With his ABC interview Vice President Dick Cheney put a smoking gun on the table. He admitted that he, along with other top administration officials, personally approved the CIA’s waterboarding of prisoners. That he said it unapologetically is merely his low-keyed way of declaring open war.

…snip…

Always blunt, two-fisted, and condescending, the question is, why admit that he approved waterboarding? And why now? Maybe it was egotism, pure and simple, his own version of a legacy campaign where he takes credit for a policy that he asserts made America safe.

…snip…

What he is responding to is the accusation in the just released Senate Armed Services Committee Report on the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody that condemns the Bush administration in no uncertain terms:

A major focus of the Committee’s investigation was the influence of Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE) training techniques on the interrogation of detainees in U.S. custody. SERE training is designed to teach our soldiers how to resist interrogation by enemies that refuse to follow the Geneva Conventions and international law. During SERE training, U.S. troops — in a controlled environment with great protections and caution — are exposed to harsh techniques such as stress positions, forced nudity, use of fear, sleep deprivation, and until recently, the waterboard. The SERE techniques were never intended to be used against detainees in U.S. custody. The Committee’s investigation found, however, that senior officials in the U.S. government decided to use some of these harsh techniques against detainees based on deeply flawed interpretations of U.S. and international law.

The Committee concluded that the authorization of aggressive interrogation techniques by senior officials was both a direct cause of detainee abuse and conveyed the message that it was okay to mistreat and degrade detainees in U.S. custody.

There are those who argue that the Bush administration committed war crimes during their prosecution of the War on Terror. Nothing could be done during their tenure, but as January 20th rapidly approaches, some are already making the case, asking how these abuses of power could not be prosecuted.

…snip…

There are those who see the vice president’s admission as part of a strategy to force the president to pardon him and all those named in the Senate Report: Rumsfeld, Meyers [sic], and Rice. If Bush doesn’t pardon them, they will certainly be pursued by those in the new administration who will not let-bygones-be-bygone.

Since Bush has been famously reticent to grant pardons both as governor and president, then Cheney’s ABC interview with Jonathan Karl is a way of provoking Bush to act while he still can. If Cheney is pardoned then he’ll have it both ways: maintaining that what was done was legal and being protected from prosecution.

10 responses to “That’s the Sound of the Men Working on the Cheney Gang”

dcup! 😀
how about we line up deadeye dick, rummy, abu, and all the rest of them and throw shoes at them? shoes with stiletto heels, spikes, cleats, and steel toes. maybe a few horseshoes, too. there would be a lot of satisfaction in that. ooh! we could have a lottery. a buck buys you a chance at being a shoe-flinger. we can feel better and solve the problem with the economy all at once! 😉

Really, why would Cheney admit to all this? Do you think he is trying to egg on the Obama administration? They will be damned if they do and damned if they don’t pursue Cheney and company. Either way, Bushco drums up the divisiveness that has worked so well for them in the past by saddling the new Prez with yet another serious and polarizing conflict. Cheney might end up being a sacrificial lamb… or, he might end up being a neo-con martyr.

i don’t know, nightowl. maybe he has convinced himself that he is untouchable (well, he’s right, nobody wants to touch him, but he would think untouchable in another context), or maybe he figures he’s the one that knows exactly who did what, and he plans on being the one who cuts a deal and informs on everyone else. he definitely isn’t the martyr type. maybe he has enough dirt on some dems, and he figures he can apply enough pressure in the right places so that charges will never be brought.

So… chimpy pardon’s him. If there’s any justice to be had in America, he’ll be turned over to the world court along with Dub where they should both get the chair; the shoes; the scissors; whatever.
Still. can any punishment— short of eternal death— exact justice for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of dead?

saitia,
i suspect chimpy and dead eye dick and the other usual suspects will only be traveling to those countries where they feel safe. i want them all tried here, but i will settle for the hague. bottom line, though, is exactly what you said. no matter what punishment they might get, it will never be justice.

dcAp,
you are assuming that the new administration would not make some kind of deal with other countries so that they would not arrest chimpy & company. i have little faith that dems would not protect rethugs, even lying scurrilous ones like those in power now. it’s all one big cozy family in dc.